Motivational factors affecting success in the learning of English at the Istanbul Turco-British assocation and English Fast

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate what reasons adults have for learning English in Turkey; kinds of motivational orientations towards the studying of English were investigated, as was the relationship between types of motivation, success and age. Demographic information about the adult learners attending the language courses was also collected. Two private English language schools in Istanbul were included in the study; the l.stanbul Turco-British Association and Engl ish Fast. Both of these schools teach English to adult learners and were similar in terms of methods, courses and course materials used. Five level two classes out of a possible seventeen classes were randomly selected at the Istanbul-Turco British Association and a further seven class twos out of possible nine at English Fast. A total of 162 students were represented in the sample. The sample was selected on this uneven basis because English Fast is a smaller school and there were therefore not so many level two classes to sample from. In this study there were three main hypotheses. The first one was concerned with-the notion that students would be instrumentally rather than integratively motivated in their reasons for learning English. The second looked at success and motivation and the third at age and motivation. A questionnaire was designed to find out what reasons adults have for learning English in the two schools. The final form of the questionnaire was determined on the basis of information collected from other studies, the experience of the researcher and her colleagues at both schools, a preliminary study and a pilot study. There were two parts to the questionnaire. The first part tested the students' reasons for learning English and the degree of importance of each reason. The second part of the questionnaire was designed to collect descriptive data about the students. Data collection in the study originated from two main sources, firstly from the questionnaire mentioned above and secondly from the scores collected from the examination results and teacher assessment scores. The data were then coded for analytical purposes and then analysed by hand. In order to test the hypotheses of the study, the appropriate test procedures were applied. These included the use of Chi-Square tests and the Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed-Ranks Tests. v The re?ults from the Wilcoxon test confirmed at the less than 0.01 level that instrumental motivation 'was significantly hi~her than integrative motivation thus confirming the first hypothesis in the study. The testing of hypothesis II and hypothesis III showed that there were no relation'ships and both hypotheses were rejected. The study showed that students were learning English for instrumental motivational reasons. Highly rated reasons were given as learning Engll!ish in order to make travelling abroad easier, finding a good job, setting up a business or getting promotion. Less highly rated reasons were learning English in order to occupy spare time or reading English publications. Among integrative reasons, the reason which received the highest score was learning English in order to broaden ones outlook of the world and gain new ideas followed by learning English to meet and speak to English speaking people. There were a number of limitations of the study limitations generally originated from the nature of the population and sample selected as well as from a lack of time and the measurement techniques used to evaluate the success of students at the end of forty hours of instruction. The study did however bring out a number of important points. Firstly it confirmed the importance of learning English given by a section of society in Turkey, as represented by the students in the two schools. The reasons generated may be useful to course planners and teachers alike who should be aware of the importance of integrating motivational factors into courses whilst they are being planned and taught. Secondly the results of the study were of practical use to the schools included in the study because they showed both schools were running courses which were in line with the needs and perception of their students. It was recommended that there was a need to develop standard and sophisticated instruments to measure in particular the relationship between success and motivation. Further similar studies were also suggested on the success and motivation of students at different levels of proficiency learning English; studies on students learning English at other schools in Istanbul were recommended, as were studies on students learning languages other than English.